s 

451 

.N3A: 




Glass __^A1_L 
BookJilAi. 

IV1 




AGRICULTURAL SERIES N° 14 



AGRICULTURAL SERIES N9 14- 



Messages from Nevada Officials 



FROM NEVADA'S GOVERNOR 

1 have read the pages which follow, describing 
the agricultural resources of Nevada, and desire to 
express my delight and approval at the very com- 
plete and accurate manner in which this work has 
been undertaken and carried on by the Agricul- 
tural Section of the United States Railroad Admin- 
istraton. 

It has been my good fortune to travel throughout 
the length and breadth of Nevada in connection 
with official duties as a former State Engineer, and 
as a member of the Nevada Tax Commission, as 
well as in the discharge of executive functions in 
recent years, and I am in position to judge respect- 
ing the truth of the statements contained in this 
book. 

I say, without hesitation, that the statements of 
fact in this book are reliable, and that whatever 
there may be of prophecy in it is based upon the 
most conservative judgment. 

Nevada will welcome new population, and would 
regard it as an injury to herself, no less than to the 
prospective settler, if she should, by over enthusi- 
astic statements, induce persons to come here with- 
out having a fair chance for prosperity and 
happiness. 

V^ery truly yours, 




Governor 

FROM THE DEAN OF NEVADA'S 
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

Nevada is taking every necessary step in provid- 
ing ideal conditions to establish permanent settlers 
on the best agricultural lands of the State. This is 
clearly illustrated in a recent State appropriation 



of $1,000,000 for land reclamation work to supple- 
ment the funds from the Lane Soldier Settlement 
Act now pending before Congress. These funds will 
be used in establishing reservoirs for storing the flood 
waters of the important rivers, and in furnishing 
adequate drainage for the irrigated lands, or, in 
other words, providing the essentials for successful 
farming under irrigation in Nevada. 

This booklet, devoted to Nevada, furnishes very 
complete and reliable information on the agricul- 
tural situation and possibilities for settlers in this 
State. A careful study of these pages will disclose 
certain important facts of interest to the home- 
seeker. 

Nevada contains a large area of excellent agri- 
cultural land that still remains to be farmed. This 
land is open to entry under the Federal Land Acts, 
or is included in large holdings which are being 
divided into farm units and supplied with water 
for irrigation. The very favorable soil and climatic 
conditions throughout the State make possible a 
wide range of agricultural practice, including a high 
production of practically all types of live stock and 
all kinds of farm crops grown under irrigation. 
Also, through its Agricultural College and other 
State departments, Nevada offers valuable assist- 
ance to the settler in the permanent development 
of his farm. 

I feel that this publication of facts concerning 
Nevada agricultural conditions will, in the near 
future, greatly add to the present number of perma- 
nent successful farmers in this State. 



cJL<kaj. x). Iw—^v^ 



!3. Oi 



Doan of the College of Agriculture, 
University of Nevada, 

Reno, Nevada 



^V^^ FOREWORD 



This booklet is published by the Agricultural Section of the U. S. Railroad Admin- 
istration in order that the most accurate information may be extended to the prospective 
settler and homeseeker. 

Nevada is the least known of all of the states and in the following pages much 
information will be found that is at variance with the popular ideas regarding this 
arid-land commonwealth. 

From the information contained in these pages it is hoped the reader will gather 
some fairly clear idea of the agricultural situation in Nevada in relation to its oppor- 
tunities for homeseekers. For those with $10,000 or .120,000 capital there are, of 
course, opportunities for the purchase of improved land here as elsewhere. But, other 
than on the Newlands project, opportunities for men of comparatively small means, as 
herein explained, are special rather than general until the settlement acts described 
are in operation. They must be sought for by the homeseeker with more or less 
patience and diligence and with little more specific information as a guide than herein 
given. 

It is this very condition, namely, that reclamation work must precede settlement, 
which accounts for the state's scant rural population — not soil, climate or sterility! 
To meet such condition — by providing the necessary irrigation works, land leveling 
and farm equipment antecedent to colonization — is the purpose of the reclamation 
and settlement acts described. 

The state has appropriated $1,000,000 therefor, and if congress acts, the extensive 
settlement works to be undertaken immediately thereafter will in due time afford a 
large number of specific opportunities for rural homes in Nevada luidcr the most 
favorable of conditions. Meanwhile the situation is as herein stated. 

The compilation of this booklet is the work of 
Charles A. Norcross, 
Director, Agricultural Extension Dept., University of Nevada. 

Mr. Norcross has been assisted by Committeemen of the Agricultural Section, 
U. S. Railroad Administration, who are representatives of the following railroads: 

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad; Douglas White, Los Angeles, Cal. 
Southern Pacific Railroad; H. W. Smith, San Francisco, Cal. 
Western Pacific Railroad; W. J. Shotwell, San Francisco, Cal. 
Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad; Frank M. Jennifer, Los Angeles, Cal. 
Tonopah & Goldfield Railroad; W. D. Forster, Goldfield, Nev. 




Sheep and Cattle Summer in the Mountain Altitudes Where Feed and Water Are Plentiful 




A Characteristic Farm Scene — Alfalfa Fields, Carson Valley, Nevada 

4 




Mountain Lake in the High Sierras — Used for Water Storage to Irrigate Valley Lands 



CONTRARY to popular impression, Nevada's 
wealth and prosperity is founded more in 
agriculture than mining. While mineral and 
agricultural production, as yet, are not far apart, 
the tax valuation of the farms, farm improvements 
and live stock is nearly two and one-half times greater 
than that of all mining property and the net pro- 
ceeds of mines. 

Nevada is nevertheless a great mining State. Her 
mineral production has constantly increased since 
1900 and is now greater than ever before, approxi- 
mating SoO.OOO.OOO annually. But agriculture, during 
the same period, has made even greater strides. While 
Nevada will never be a great agricultural State in the 
same sense as many others, one familiar with her 
present and latent agricultural resources will be im- 
pressed with the opportunity for marked expansion. 

Pullman Window Advertising — Nevada is the 
least known of any of the states. Her chief agricul- 
tural advertising comes from the car-window obser- 
\ ations of tourists. Unfortunately the vantage point 
of a Pullman car gives anything but a true impression 
of the State. None of the three transcontinental 
railroads passes through or near more than a few 
tracts of cultivated lands and these — seemingly cases 



foreign to their environment — serve only to accentu- 
ate in the mind of the traveler unfamiliar with the 
arid West, the sense of overwhelming desolation. He 
sees little that is agricultural in the sense to which 
he is accustomed, and gathers his impressions from 
the "range" country and the more or less unpre- 
possessing smaller stations and towns along the way. 
What the traveler thus carries away with him is \ery 
far from an adequate or true picture of the State, 
agriculturally, socially, or otherwise. As it happens, 
most of the rich agricultural valleys are off the main 
railroads. Nevada agriculture, before it ma\' be under- 
stood, must be translated in terms of the arid regions 
— different in almost e\ery sense from, and affording 
\ery little opportunity for comparison with, agricul- 
ture elsewhere. 

Irrigation Conditions Husbandry — Here we 
must first recognize that irrigation and not rainfall 
conditions husbandry; that cultivated farms are only 
possible where streams exist to supply water for irri- 
gation. Thus one valley may be susceptible of recla- 
mation, with fields of waving alfalfa, grain and inten- 
sively cultivated crops, while another of equally rich 
soil and similar climatic conditions must remain 
unreclaimed and useful to husbandry only for grazing 
live stock. 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



Again, while streams flow for twelve months in the 
year, the croi^-growing season is but five months. 
Without artificial storage systems, therefore, the flow 
for the seven months is outside the crop-growing 
season. Thus, in the evolution of farming in the arid 
states, we find two periods: first, the appropriation 
for irrigation of waters which flow during the normal 
crop-growing season; second, the period of the 
conservation of the remainder of the waters by 
great storage systems to impound them so that they 
also may be made to flow only during the growing 
season. 

Area of Reclaimable Lands — The land area of 
Nevada contains 70,841,600 acres, of which only about 
900,000 acres are at present irrigated. There are 
possibly 600,000 acres more subject to ultimate recla- 
mation when storage systems are constructed to 
conserve all the "flood" waters of the streams.* In 
addition to this surface water supply, many valleys 
contain artesian waters which in due time may be 
utilized for land reclamation Finally, it seems prob- 
able that extensive areas in certain of the higher 
valleys, where the annual precipitation is from twelve 
to fifteen inches, may be successfully reclaimed by 
dry-farm methods, when experimentation has deter- 
mined the problem of drought-resistant crops and 
methods. 

Summarizing the above, w'e find that only about 
1.4 per cent of the land area of the State is at present 
under cultivation, with a maximum expansion, through 
the complete conservation of the flood waters of the 

*Flood waters are those which flow to waste during the non- 
irrigation season. 



streams, to possibly 1.500,000 acres, or a little over 
two per cent of the State's total area; that this may 
be supplemented in time by the utilization of artesian 
waters to an indeterminate extent, possibly several 
hundred thousand acres; and that, through the 
efi'orts of settlers and the experimentation of the 
State, the outlook is favorable that some method will 
ultimately be found by which a million acres or more 
in certain of the higher valleys may be successfully 
dry-farmed. 

On this showing it is at once apparent that not 
more than four or five per cent, at the outside, of 
the State's total area is subject to reclamation in any 
known manner — a limitation of not over 3,500,000 
acres, and possibly less. There yet remains for con- 
sideration o\'er 66,000,000 acres, chiefly belonging to 
the public domain. From this area we may subtract 
about 16,000,000 acres of sand and alkali deserts of 
no known human value except, in instances, for the 
salts contained. 

Vast Grazing Lands — The remaining 50,000,000 
acres are by no means waste lands. Instead, they 
have an important place in the agriculture of the 
State and Nation. These are the "range" lands, used 
for live-stock grazing. On these lands at the present 
time 500,000 cattle and 1,500,000 sheep find subsis- 
tence. 

This vast range area is clothed with bru.shes of 
many varieties, the greater portion of which are 
palatable and nutritious to cattle, sheep and horses. 
Intermixed with the brushes are native grasses and 
grazing plants of various kinds. The range domain 




Volcanic Ash Soils on the Floor of the Ancient Lake Lahonlan, Which Once Covered Nevada 

6 




A Portion of the 300,000 Acres of Native Grass Lands Requiring Drainage Before Other Crops May Be Grown 



is, therefore, a part of the agriculture of the State. 
It is a factor, moreover, of primary importance in 
connection with the farms, for the reason that range 
live stock which is destined for the stockyards are 
fattened on the farms, affording a constant and high- 
priced market for all forage crops produced. The 
importance and utility of these great mountain and 
valley deserts, without such explanation, is unrealized 
by the tourist. With a preconceived notion of agri- 
culture based on farming as conducted elsewhere, he 
is disposed to dismiss this range region as one that 
is utterly inhospitable to human welfare other than 
perhaps mining. 

Where Real Farming is Found — Such a \ iew is 
modified \'ery materiall}- when one visits any of the 
highly cultiv^ated valleys. Here the verdure of thrifty 
fields and the prosperity, modernness and attracti\e- 
ness of the farms and farm life will compare favorabh- 
with the more prosperous and progressi\e farm com- 
munities elsewhere in America. 

Type of Homeseekers Desired — Not e\er\ home- 
seeker will I)e satisfied with conditions in the arid 



West. Not e\cry homoseeker can cope with condi- 
tions in Nevada. America is so large and the West 
so wonderful in its di\-ersity that there are places and 
opportunities suitable for e\eryone who will but seek 
and find. This State holds opportunities for men and 
women of a special kintl- those who ha\e in their 
blood something of the venturesome pioneering spirit, 
who can cheerfully and courageously cope with some 
adversity and, if necessary, with some hardships, 
who are energetic and resourceful and to whom a few 
years of struggle is as nothing if the goal of a thrifty 
competence is assured. 

The call of the State is for men and women of 
strong fiber, who ha\e in their characters that which 
takes joy in the wide freedom of the desert countrx,-, 
who ha\e a natural lo\e for mountains and far 
stretches of gray !an(!sca[)e, and who will not re|)iMe 
from loniliiiess ;uid longing for scenes left liehind, i)ut 
from the da},- of their coming will call the wastes 
"home" and feel strong with enterprise and cour.ige 
to conquer the land. 



Physical Nevada 



NEVADA occupies, for the most part, the 
western portion of the Great Basin, a table- 
land lying between the Wasatch Mountains 
on the east and the Sierra Nevada Mountains on 
the west. It is bounded on the north by Idaho 
and Oregon, east by Utah and Arizona, south by 



Arizona and California and west by California. It 
is the si.xth largest State, with an area of llO.tiUO 
square miles, 8C9 of which are water. The princii^al 
streams are the Truckee, Humboldt, Carson, ami 
Walker rivers. Smaller streams are the Reese, Owy- 
hee, Bruneau, Salmon, White and Muddy rivers. The 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRIC ULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



most important lakes are Tahoe (one-third only in 
Nevada), Pyramid, Winnemucca, Walker, Humboldt, 
Washoe and Ruby. 

TOPOGRAPHY 

The State is ribbed with a succession of mountain 
ranges, for the most part having a northerly and 
southerly trend, between which are long narrow val- 
leys. Nearly 65 per cent of the land area is embraced 
in mountains and foothills. They vary in elevation 
from 5,000 feet to peaks and ridges towering to alti- 
tudes of 10,000 to 13,000 feet above sea level. Valley 
elevations in western Nevada are from 3,800 to 5,000 
feet; central, from 4,000 to 6,000 feet; eastern, from 
5,000 to 6,000 feet and southern, from 1,000 to 3,000 
feet. The elevations are, therefore, greatest in eastern 
and northeastern Nevada, with a gradual westerly 
and southerly slope. 

A portion of northern Nevada drains into tribu- 
taries of the Columbia River and of southern Nevada 
into the Colorado River. The streams of the remain- 
der of the State either empty- into inland lakes without 
outlets, or are consumed in part by farm irrigation and 
in part lost by evaporation and percolation. 

Valley Surfaces — The valleys as a rule have even 
surfaces, with gentle slopes from the lowlands to the 



foothills. The exceptions are the sand deserts and 
certain volcanic-ash areas where the winds have 
shifted the soil in hillocks and dunes. In places there 
remain the terracing of ancient floods. Ridges and 
gulleys may also mark the work of more recent cloud- 
bursts. From the larger canyons creeks lead to the 
lowlands, flowing during the spring months to become 
dry arroyos by early summer. 

In portions of the State are the level floors of 
alkali deserts many miles in extent, glistening white 
with salt incrustations. Elsewhere may occasionally 
be found similar floors, destitute of vegetation, cov- 
ered in the spring with shallow blankets of water 
which soon evaporate, leaving the bed checked in 
smooth hard cakes of sun-baked clay on which an 
auto may speed as on an asphalt pavement. 

Other than the foregoing, the valleys and hills are 
clothed with sagebrush of many different varieties, 
while here and there in the mountains are extensive 
areas of juniper and piiion and occasionally forests 
of pine. 
NATURAL SCENERY 

Nature is expressed in unending variation and ever- 
changing moods in Nevada. At one hour of the day 
desolation is monarch of the landscape and the 
stranger feels lost in the immensity of valley and 




A Portion of 400,000 Acres of Swamp and Sub-Irrigated Pasture and Grazing Lands 
Which Drainage Will Reclaim 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



^^^^1^1^ Hi*i»^M""iw J^PB^i 




More Silos Were Built in Nevada in 1919 than 
in All Previous Years • 

mountain distances, gray, silent and austere. But 
another hour the same scene has been transformed 
into one of beauty, glory and majesty. The dawn, or 
the sunset, or the light of moon and stars have laved 
hills and desert in ethereal colors. And there comes 
in time, to be born in men of the West the spell of 
these ever-changing moods in a world where one may 
see unbounded by near barriers, the glories of the 
Creator's handiwork. It spells something in the 
human' heart that makes life less narrow and sordid, 
causing men to become friendly and helpful to one 
another. And it loosens the trammels that bind the 
enterprise of men and substitutes therefor a new 
freedom and inspiration for achievement and success!- 
Aside from its predominant desert characteristics, 
Nevada has an abundance of picturesque and mag- 
nificent mountain and lake scenery. The mountain 
fastnesses contain delightful spots for camper, hunter 
and fisherman, as a rule within a brief auto ride from 
the valleys. Charleston Peak and the White Moun- 
tains in southern Nevada, the Ruby Range in the 
eastern part of the State, and the Sierra Nevada in 
the west are famous for their grandeur and beauty. 
The upper sources of the streams in all the highermoun- 



tains are e.xceedingly attractive. Here the vegetation 
is luxuriant and varied; deciduous and evergreen 
trees of many varieties grow to large size, and flowers, 
grasses and plant life abound. 

CLIMATE 

Nevada surpasses all other states, excepting Cali- 
fornia, in its range of climate. Southern Nevada is 
semi-tropical. In the Moapa and Virgin river valleys 
the growing season is nine to ten months long, with 
almost snowless winters and summers of intense heat. 
In the western part of the State the growing season 
is about five months. The summers are comparatively 
hot and the winters generally mild. In the higher 
valleys of eastern Nevada the winters are more rigor- 
ous, but with less prolonged cold than occurs in the 
Eastern States. The efifects of temperature on human 
and animal life is tempered by the absence of humidity. 
Cold, for such reason, is less penetrating and heat less 
oppressive. Range live stock are unsheltered and 
suffer very little discomfort in winter temperatures 
that, in a humid climate, would cause them to perish. 
Similarly, high summer temperatures, where there is 
an absence of humidity, cause comparatively little 
discomfort. 





Nevada Potatoes Are Famous for Their Quality and 
Yield — Scene on the Peckham Farm near Reno 



NE 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 



IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



Like all otiier states of the arid region, the climate 
of Nevada is very healthful. Tuberculosis, contracted 
within the State, is unknown. The dry atmosphere 
and days of cloudless sunshine are beneficial to sufferers 
from pulmonary maladies 

One effect of the scant atmospheric humidity is 
cool nights in summer. The earth, after sunset, radi- 
ates its heat into space, unintercepted by clouds or 
air moisture. This, while promoting human and 
animal comfort, has its drawbacks in increasing the 
liability of late spring and early fall frosts, affecting 
the more susceptible crops. 

PRECIPITATION 

In that third of the United States lying between 
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, on the east, and the 
beginning of the Rocky Mountains on the west, the 
country is level and undulating, without mountains 
or hills of any altitude worth mentioning. The result 
is a comparatively even distribution of rainfall through- 
out extensive areas. The topography of Nevada, on 
the contrar}', shows approximately two hundred val- 



leys, great and small, separated from one another by 
mountain ranges, anywhere from 2,000 to 7,000 feet 
higher than the valley levels. The effect of this on 
the distribution of rainfall is marked. The mountains 
gather the storms, intercept the precipitation, and 
while the valleys occasionally get rain or snow, the 
ratio between the rainfall of the latter and the moun- 
tains is probably not more than one to three. When 
it is stated that the average annual precipitation in 
the valleys of northern, eastern and western Nevada 
is not likely more than eight inches, in central Nevada 
five inches, and in southern Nevada about four inches, 
this should be understood to represent but a small 
part of the actual rainfall over the State. Moreover, 
there is often wide variation in rainfall between one 
valley and another immediately adjoining it, but 
separated by a mountain barrier. Several valleys 
hav-e an annual precipitation very much greater than 
the averages stated above, others less. 

Effect of Mountains on Humidity — Mountain 
ranges are factors of supreme importance in the agri- 
cultural reclamation of the State. The winter snow 




Harvesting Wheat in Lamoille Valley, Elko County 
10 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



is conserved in tiie higher altitudes, to melt gradually 
during the spring and summer, giving rise to the 
streams and rivers which supply water for irrigation. 
Moreo\er, the mountain valleys and canyons afford 
many opportunities for storage reservoirs. A dam 
thrown across the outlet of an upland valley through 
which a stream flows, or which is surrounded by a 
large catchment basin, impounds the waters. The 
run-ofT, which otherwise would flow to waste in the 
early spring before irrigation begins and in the fall 
after irrigation ceases, is thus conserved and regulated 
to flow only when required for crop growing. Stream 
measurements disclose that without storage systems 
more than forty per cent of the stream waters are 
lost in spring freshets and flows outside the irrigation 
season. 

Rain Not a Factor in Irrigation Farming — 

Spring, summer and fall rains are variable, without 
any seasonal regularity. Farmers in the irrigated 
sections do not take rainfall into their calculations in 
crop growing. Spring and fall rains, however, are 
important to the dry-farmer, although his dependency 
is chieflv on the soil conservation of winter snows. 



The range live-stock industry, on the other hand, 
is dependent to a degree upon spring and fall rains 
to stimulate the growth of the native grazing plants. 

VALLEY SOILS 

In geological times the western and central portion 
of Nevada was covered by the ancient Lake Lahonlan, 
of which Pyramid and Winnemucca lakesare remnants. 
The disappearance of its waters left in places great 
stretches of volcanic-ash soils, such as characterizes 
a part of the Newlands Reclamation Project. In 
other valleys the original lake floor has been covered 
deep with mountain erosion, leaving sandy and 
gravelly loams for a soil blanket. Along the river 
bottoms and in the valley lowlands the soils are of 
finely divided silt and organic detritus. Alkali, if 
found at all in the well-drained lands, is in such small 
ciuantity as to be negligible. Its prevalence will be 
in the low undrained lands bordering the streams 
and in the valley depressions without outlets where 
stream and drainage waters empty and e\aporate. 

Natural Vegetation a Criterion of Soils — Natural 
vegetation is almost an inf.illiblc criterion of the 




""^ i^l'i 



Typical Winter Range in the Valleys of Central Nevada 
11 



IN MINING 



. . I. ' t 1-! h . OLD 
RICH IN BOTH 



character of the soil beneatli. Wherever black sage- 
brush grows the soil will be found rich in plant foods 
and under cultivation it will yield bountiful crops of 
alfalfa, grain, etc., without fertilization of any kind. 
The black sage, moreover, is a further indication that 
no alkali, or only in negligible quantity, is present 
in the soil. 

Stunted black sagebrush and thorn bush, intermixed, 
will be found in valleys and on slopes where there is 
less precipitation or the soil is less retentive of mois- 
ture. Such soils, as a rule, are more or less deficient 
in humus and nitrogen, due to the effect of aridity on 
plant growth, but may otherwise contain abundant 
plant food. Under irrigation, alfalfa, inoculated 
with nitrogen bacteria before planting, will soon sup- 
ply the nitrogen deficiency. If the lack of humus is 
serious, sweet clover or alfalfa, similarly inoculated 
when planted, and plowed under as a green manure 
the first season, usually will leave the soil in condition 
for the permanent crop. 

Rabbit brush and wild rye are always indicati\e of 
soil moisture. Their habitat is in subirrigated flats, 
along stream or drainage courses or forming a zone 
in the partially drained lowlands about lakes. The 
soil beneath is usually finely divided stream silt, rich 



in plant foods. An intermixture of black sagebrush 
will indicate the absence of alkali. On the other hand, 
if intermixed with greasewood, shadscale or saltbush, 
more or less alkali is likely. 

Greasewood, shadscale and the various saltbushes 
are found only where there is an abundance of soil 
moisture for at least the greater part of the year. 
Their range of resistance to alkali varies with the 
variety, in some instances being very great. While 
these brushes may be found frequently on soils where 
the alkali content is negligible — in fact wherever there 
is very much surface moisture — one should suspect 
alkali by their mere presence until soil tests prove 
otherwise. 

Soil Testing — A settler undertaking the reclama- 
tion of virgin land should give particular attention 
to its natural flora, for it is an important guide to 
the probable character of the soil. He should next 
write the Nevada Agricultural College, Reno, for 
details as to how to sample properly, follow such 
instructions and have the soil tested. He should 
further, with a soil auger, determine the depth of the 
soil and whether any stratum of hard pan or impervi- 
ous clay may lie at such shallow depth below the 
surface as to interfere with plant growth or drainage. 



V% 




Alfalfa Is the Leading Farm Staple — Harvesting Scene, Lovelock Valley 

12 



Nevada's Agricultural Possibilities 



THE principal agricultural \alle>s are those 
traversed by the larger streams — the Truckee, 
Carson, Walker, Humboldt, Reese and Muddy 
ri\crs — with lesser farm communities and isolated 
farms utilizing for irrigation the waters of all other 
streams and springs within the State. 

Farm units vary from twenty acres to holdings of 
more than ten thousand acres of improved lands, aside 
from enormous areas of unimproved grazing lands in 
many instances connected therewith. 

The Gauge of Agricultural Possibilities — The 
gauge of the agricultural possibilities of the irrigable 
lands of the State will be found generally in those 
valleys where small farm units of 80 to 200 acres pre- 
dominate, with special reference to the Truckee, Car- 
son, Fernley, Fallon, Smith, Mason, Lovelock and 
Moapa valleys, the greater part of which are thus 
subdivided. These farms, in the main, are devoted 
chiefly to forage crops. They are intensively culti- 
\ated and present an appearance of success and thrift 
comparable with the best farms in any other section 
of America, as e\inced by the fact that farm values 
range from $150 to -fSSO per acre. 



PRINCIPAL CROPS OF THE STATE 

Alfalfa is the basic crop, producing from three to 
seven tons per acre, with instances of eight to ten 
tons. Other crops grown are wheat, barley and oats, 
corn and Russian sunflower for silage, potatoes, onions, 
and, for home consumption, garden vegetables, orchard 
and small fruits. Native grasses are grown e.\tensi\ely 
on the undrained meadow lands. 

Alfalfa the Chief Staple Crop— About l."iO,(K)0 
acres are in alfalfa, which is grown, as a rule, wherc\er 
drainage conditions permit, as the plant will not thri\e 
on subirrigated land. Its adaptability is demonstrated 
by high yields and the fact that on suitable ground, 
when properly seeded and irrigated, replanting is not 
necessary oftencr than once in ten or twehe years. 
Two crops and, in certain valleys, three crops are 
annually har\-ested. It is the supreme feed for li\e 
stock of all forage plants. 

Native Grasses — Bordering man)- oi the streams 
and in the bottom lands of certain \alleys are sul)- 
irrigated lowlands which produce \ery nutritious 
natural grasses, but less xalualile for feeding than 




Sugar Beets, as, also, All Other Root and Garden Crops, Thrive on the Newlands Project Lane 

13 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 

!BL i^ agiig -iaHaa Mgi!-U.M- ? ai ii' j i«a eia i MM i>gi(! 3> i g »!«a*— MafcWaaaaMWB^ — wc<w*«^ ■ ■-■ ■ tnjuig WM^wwiawwWf 

IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



alfalfa and averaging scarcely a third in yield per acre. 
Approximately 300,000 acres are in such grasses, aside 
from the unharvested grazing areas. These lands can 
only be made adaptable to other crops by drainage. 

Potato Culture Profitable — Potatoes are the prin- 
cipal export crop. About 7,000 acres are annually 
grown, yielding about 1,500,000 bushels. The quality 
is excellent, ranking with the best tubers of Idaho or 
Colorado. Growers, experienced in the technic of 
potato culture under irrigation, secure yields of 300 
(o 500 bushels per acre, with records in excess of 600 
bushels. The Colorado beetle and potato bug have 
never invaded the State and there has been little loss 
from other insect pests. The one parasite which has 
gained foothold in certain localities is the eel worm. 

Corn and Sunflower for Silage — Corn in northern 
Nevada is beginning to be grown for silage, as also 
Russian sunflower. The cool nights, and the late May 
and early fall frosts, limit corn growing to the hardy 
and early maturing varieties. Russian sunflower silage 
has been found to be approximately equal to corn 



silage, with the advantage of much greater frost re- 
sistance and nearly double the yield per acre. 

The Cereals — Wheat is the principal grain. Some 
barley and oats are grown, but not extensively. Wheat, 
on the irrigated lands, yields normally from 25 to 35 
bushels per acre, with phenomenal yields of 60 to 70 
bushels per acre recorded in the Lovelock Valley and 
other special localities. Even with such high average 
yields, alfalfa is the more profitable. Grain, therefore, 
is grown chiefly as a temporary crop on freshly broken 
lands, such as sagebrush, meadow or old alfalfa lands 
requiring reseeding, until the soil is of sufficiently fine 
tilth to sow alfalfa. Flour mills at Reno, Lovelock, 
Fallon, Minden and Elko afford markets for most of 
the wheat, although some is exported. 

Truck, Garden and Fruit Crops — Onions pro- 
duce large yields on the river-bottom lands and are a 
profitable truck crop. Cantaloupes, unsurpassed in 
flavor, are grown for export on the Newlands Recla- 
mation project, and in the Moapa Valley, southern 
Ne\ada. All the common garden vegetables, such as 







r.m^^--vM^:^ 



A New Homesteader on the Newlands Project on the Road to Success 

14 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



sweet corn, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, squash, 
etc., thrive. Orchard fruits, such as apples, peaches, 
plums, pears, apricots, etc., may be readily grown, but 
require frost protection as a rule, during the blossom- 
ing period, to insure a harvest. Certain frost-protected 
belts in the foothills are well adapted to orcharding, 
although little attention has yet been given to the 
fruit industry. The agricultural crops of southern 
Nevada are discussed in another section. 

Market for Forage Crops — Dairying — Some 
farmers dispose of their forage crops and pasturage to 
stockmen for fattening or wintering range cattle and 
sheep. Others own sufficient live stock to consume 
their farm products, marketing only beef, mutton and 
dairy products. Dairying in western Nevada is be- 
coming an important and growing industry. Cream- 
eries are established in all the principal valleys, the 
butter from which finds ready market, both locally 
and for export. One will find in these valleys high-pro- 
ducing dairy herds, with a large proportion of pure- 
bred animals of the dairy breeds, and from which the 
"boarder" cows have been culled by testing. The 



quality of the alfalfa and gras.ses from the nutritive 
standpoint is uncqualed, except in a few other favored 
sections in the West — there being few localities else- 
where where such high milk production can be ob- 
tained from pasture and forage crops without grain 
in the feed ration. 

Diversified Farming the Most Profitable — The 

dry climate and mild winters are extremely favorable 
to raising live stock. It may be stated that such 
climatic conditions, together witli the success with 
which alfalfa and other forage crops are grown, will, 
perhaps, always condition the most successful farming 
to the combined forage and li\e-stock farm. 

SEMI-TROPICAL SOUTHERN NEVADA 

Clark County and a portion of Nye County, in 
extreme southern Nevada, are semi- tropical. The valley 
elevations range from about one thousand feet above 
sea level, at St. Thomas, Moapa Valle>', to about 
two thousand seven hundred feet in Pahrump Val!e\'. 
The summers are intensely hot, with a growing season 
nine to ten months long. 




AlfalfaField, Las Vegas Valley, Almost Ready to Harvest on April 2d, When Photographed 

15 



NEVADA 



YOUNG I N AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



Moapa Valley, watered by the Muddy River, con- 
tains about 12,000 acres, of which about 6,000 are 
under cultivation. It is traversed by a branch of the 
Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. Immediately 
east lies a portion of the Virgin Ri\er Valley, in which 
are located the towns of Bunkerville and Mesquite. 
Here about 5,000 additional acres are under cultiva- 
tion. These two valleys are at the primary stage in 
respect to the development of their remarkable agri- 
cultural possibilities. The soil where well-drained, is 
intensely fertile. The principal crops are alfalfa, of 
which eight to twelve tons per acre are grown, grain 
which produces fifty to sixty bushels per acre, corn, 
sorghum, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cantaloupes and 
truck-garden crops. Fruits of all kinds, with the ex- 
ception of citrus fruits, which are affected by February- 
frosts, produce bountifully. Peaches, figs, apricots, 
pomegranates, pears, almonds and walnuts do excep- 
tionally well. 

Long-Staple Cotton — Recent experiments with 
long-staple cotton, Pima variety', indicate its adapta- 
bility, not only to Moapa and the Virgin River valleys. 



but to the great valley around Las Vegas. Demonstra- 
tions of this crop are now being conducted by the 
Southern Nevada Agricultural Board and the Nevada 
Agricultural College, the results of which will be 
determined by the close of 1920. If this cotton proves 
adapted it will spell a complete change in the agri- 
culture of this region and supplant all other crops as 
the leading staple. 

Las Vegas Valley — The great Las Vegas Valley, 
to the west, is underlaid with artesian water. More 
than one hundred wells have been drilled, most of 
which are flowing and comprise the source of water 
for irrigation. Unfortunately, the soil for the most 
part is deficient in nitrogen and humus, in some in- 
stances contains an excess of gypsum, and requires 
from one to three years' soil-building before it will 
produce maximum crops. Portions of the valley, how- 
ever, where covered with mesquite groves, possess 
naturally fertile soils. Generally these are at some con- 
siderable distance from the artesian belt, requiring 
pipe or concrete conduits to convey the water to the 
lands. Experiments with cotton on some of the lean 




Demonstration Pumping Plant at Leiand. Armagosa Valley, Southern Nevada 

16 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 




t/itii^ 




ii. 










** 



Nevada's Principal Artesian Section Is the Las Vegas Valley, Where More Than One Hundred Wells 
Have Been Drilled and Furnish the Principal Supply of Water for Irrigation 







.fl-' ^ Wather B'"' 







< 

a 



<> 



Z 



NEVA 



YOUNG IN 

I N Ivi 1 N i'n G 



AGRICULTURE, OLD 

~R TcTi I N B 6 Th 



soils have given promising results and, if more complete 
tests demonstrate its adaptabilitj', these lands will 
suddenly come in the field of opportunity for settle- 
ment, even though requiring a year or two of pre- 
liminary soil-building. Soil improvement is accom- 
plished by planting inoculated sweet clover and suc- 
cessively plowing it under until the requisite amount of 
humus and nitrogen is established. 

PROBLEM OF GREAT FARM UNITS 

In 1910 there were 34-t farm units in Nevada, aver- 
aging 1,534 acres of improved (irrigated) land each, 
aggregating a total of 527,737 acres, or 71.4 per cent 
of the improved land of the State. The remaining 
28.6 per cent of improved lands, aggregating 225,380 
acres, were divided among 2,345 owners. The census 
appraisers that year placed the average value of the 
improved land in the large holdings at $27.18 per 
acre and in the small holdings at $75.34 per acre. 
While these values may be doubled to agree with 
present land prices, the ratio of small-farm values, due 
to intensive cultivation, to the larger farms has not 
materially changed. 

Prosperity of Small Farmers — The average 
small-farm unit, in 1910, was 97 acres, as compared 
with the 1,534-acre unit of the large "ranches." The 
small farmers are, as a rule, highly prosperous, with 
little or no farm indebtedness. Nearly all have money 
in the bank, possess an automobile, send their children 
to college and, in every reasonable way, are successful 
and independent. Since 1910 approximately 150,000 
acres of reclaimed lands have been added to the culti- 
vated area, chiefly in farms of 80 to 100 acres, although 
a part of such reclamation is embraced in the large 
farm holdings. 

Subdivision of Large Farms Necessary to State 
Development — The problem presented in Ne\ada in 



respect to farm colonization and increased agricultural 
production relates in no small degree to ways and 
means for the ultimate subdivision into small farm 
units of these great ranch holdings. It is admitted, 
before such subdivision is practicable, even from the 
settler's standpoint, that for a large part of such 
acreages storage systems on the streams must be con- 
structed to perfect water rights in order to permit of 
intensive cultivation. Also drainage systems must be 
established to lower the underground water tables in 
many instances. On the other hand, certain of these 
great bodies of improved lands are integral parts of 
stock ranges and as such have their place in the enter- 
prises of the stockmen and may not readily be divorced 
therefrom without disorganizing such enterprises. 

Events Which May Cause Subdivision — The 
solution seems to lie in the probable evolution of the 
range live-stock industry, as affected by future federal 
control of the public ranges, the tendency of which is 
to encourage smaller and discourage the larger live- 
stock units, by diminishing the range permits of the 
latter in order to take care of the increasing demands 
of the former for grazing privileges. Thus, in time, if 
such federal policy is maintained, a point will be 
reached when the large live-stock units must go out of 
business, supplanted by successors with smaller units, 
and to whom they will dispose of their live stock and 
lands. Many stockmen foresee such a situation as in- 
evitable and are shaping their enterprises accordingly. 

Meanwhile, aside from the large irrigable areas thus 
associated with range live stock, there are many 
ranches of from 1,000 to 15,000 acres of improved 
land, not connected with range enterprises, which it 
is to the interest of the State to see subdivided. 1 1 
seems probable that the Reclamation and Settlenuni 
Act, described in another section, will provide a IeL\il 
and satisfactory method by which this may be acconi 
plished. 



<i^-f?^^>5v-^ 



Live-Stock Development in Nevada 



FIVE-SEVENTHS of the State— about 50,000,- 
000 acres of land, of which nearly eighty-five 
per cent belongs to the public domain — is 
chiefly valuable for the grazing of live stock on the 
natural vegetation. On this vast area about 500,000 
cattle, 1,500,000 sheep and 25,000 horses find their 
chief subsistence. 

About 10,000,000 acres of the above are classed as 
"Summer Range," of which 0,000,000 acres are in- 
cluded in National Forest Reserves. The summer 
ranges are in the higher mountain altitudes, where 
precipitation is greatest, where streams and springs 
are plentiful and vegetation, as the winter snow dis- 
appears, grows abundantly. 

The winter ranges are in the lowlands and, for the 
most part, in the valleys of the central part of the 
State. Summer and winter ranges are often more than 
a hundred miles — in instances over two hundred miles 
— apart. As the spring advances, the range cattle and 
sheep are moved slowly towards their summer range, 
grazing in the valleys on the way and finding water in 
the streams which are yet flowing. Late in May or earh- 
June, as the \alley water disappears, they are mo\eil 
into the mountains, following the receding snow to the 



mountain summits, or as far as vegetation exists, there 
remaining until fall. Then in October and November, 
when the autumnal rains and snow supplywater for their 
migration, they are returned south to the winter range. 

During the spring and summer, by such system of 
range management, cattle and sheep grow fat on the 
nutritious native grasses, plants and the leaves of 
willow, aspen and the other mountain shrubbery. 
Sheep are lambed in March and April in the open. 
By September the lambs are fat and ready for market 
and weigh 65 to 75 pounds apiece, without ever having 
been fed a day on a farm. Calves, on the other hand, 
require nearly three years on the range and are then 
finished on alfalfa or grass hay on the farms for three 
or four months before they are ready for market. 

Thus, on the fall migration to the winter range, 
only ewe lambs intended for replenishing the breeding 
herd go with the flock. But with cattle, the calves, 
yearlings and two-year-olds are in the herds, only the 
"feeders" being culled. From this time until spring 
niost of the range cattle and sheep will subsist entirely 
on the native brushes blanketing the deserts and the 
withered grasses and plants. If the season is compara- 
tively open they will come through in fair condition. 




Sheep Grazing on the Native Vegetation of the Cjieat Public Ranges 

21 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



If it happens to be a "hard" winter, with deep snow 
and prolonged cold, the losses from starvation and 
exposure may be disastrous. 

Farm Feeding of Range Live Stock — Stockmen 
are coming to discover that winter losses from starva- 
tion and exposure are unprofitable. Each winter wit- 
nesses more and more feeding of hay and cottonseed 
cake to supplement open grazing. This is particularly 
true of sheep, since a sudden deep snow may destroy 
an entire flock. Again, at lambing time, if the ewes 
come through the winter thin and the range vegetation 
is delayed by a backward spring, without supplemental 
feed to produce milk, the lamb losses will be very great. 

The ranges thus furnish large numbers of cattle and 
sheep for winter feeding on the farms, a ready market 
for all the alfalfa, grass hay and pasture that the 
farmer can produce and invariably at good prices. 

Stockmen Favor Range Control — Another phase 
of the range situation is interesting. Other than within 
the forest reserves, there is to date no control, either 
by the Federal Government or by the State, of the 
public range. The absence of such control has resulted 
in de\egetating, to a greater or less extent, great areas 
which can only be revegetated by restricted grazing 
for a number of years. Native forage plants must be 
allowed to mature seed in order to continue. Stock- 
men, who for years, opposed federal control of the 
range, are now supporting measures in Congress de- 
signed to provide such control as the alternative to 
prevent range denuding. Were a grazing policy, such 
as is now in force within the forest reserves, extended 
to the public range, the present numbers of live stock 



thereon could be continued indefinitely and probably 
permit considerable increase. 

Enormous Forage Losses from Rodents — If this 
policy were supplemented with adequate proxisions 
for the systematic extermination of rodents and preda- 
torj' animals — chiefly the jackrabbit, ground squirrel 
and coyote — the carrying capacity of the ranges 
might, in due time, be doubled. It is estimated that 
the destruction of grazing vegetation by rodents in 
Nevada equals and possibly exceeds the total con- 
sumption by all the range live stock. No other problem 
in the State is of greater public concern than the ex- 
termination of rodents, since the destruction of range 
forage alone runs into millions of dollars annually. 

The 640-Acre Grazing Homestead Act — Con- 
gress, in 1914, passed what is known as the 640-Acre 
Grazing Act, under which lands chiefly valuable for 
grazing, and not susceptible of reclamation by any 
known means, may be entered as a stock-grazing 
homestead. This measure independently has little 
application to Nevada conditions. It presupposes 
grazing vegetation on a square-mile unit in quantity 
sufficient to afford subsistence for enough live stock 
to support a family — a minimum of about 500 sheep 
or 120 head of cattle. There are few natural units of 
such character in the State, and these, for the most 
part, are in the high mountain valleys, where the 
snowfall in winter makes it unsafe to attempt to winter 
live stock. A grazing homestead, however, in connec- 
tion with an irrigated or dry-farm, if not too remote 
from the farm, and adapted to spring and summer 
grazing, may be an important adjunct. 




Half a Million Cattle and One and a Half Million Sheep Subsist on the Public Range Lands] 

22 



RE C L A M ATI O N INN E VADA 




Diversion Dam of the Newlands Reclamation Project. Truckee River 



FIRST settlers along the streams diverted, for irri- 
gation, the waters that flowed during the crop- 
growing season, other than the surplus run-off 
of spring freshets. The next stage of farm develop- 
ment involved storage reservoirs to conserve the 
remainder of the stream flows in order that they 
also could be put to beneficial use. Where such works 
were comparatively inexpensi\e they were undertaken 
by the farmers. But the streams in the main required 
comprehensive storage works, involving systems cost- 
ing millions — sufificient to reclaim large areas in order 
to bring the cost per acre within reasonable limits. 
The lanrls in most instances belonged to the public 
domain. Thus, preceding the later settler, must come 
the reclamation project. It was to meet this situation, 
existing generally throughout the West, that the Na- 
tional Reclamation Act was passed by Congress. 

Newlands Reclamation Project — The first enter- 
prise undertaken under this measure was the Newlands 
Project in Nevada, hereinafter described. The project 
suffered to some extent in the fact that it bore the 
burden of the costly mistakes incident to the early 
historv' of the Reclamation Service. In common with 
all other reclamation enterprises it has also suiTered 
from the unforeseen limitations of the Act itself, 



namely, that land leveling and some indispensable 
improvements were not included as a part of the con- 
struction program. 

Settlement of the Newlands Project has been held 
back by the high cost of land leveling, which falls as 
the first outlay on the settler before he can grow a 
crop. Nevertheless 43,000 acres of the project — por- 
tions of nearly 700 farm units — were under irrigation 
in 1918 through the industry of settlers. Additional 
areas are being slowly but constantly made irrigable. 
The soil is extremely productive, with a wide range of 
successful crops. Substantially all the earlier settlers 
have achieved prosperity and independence, with the 
later settlers on the road to a like success. This project 
will be materially benefited by the State and National 
settlements acts hereinafter discussed. 

Further Storage Systems Needed — Supplemental 
storage works on the Truckee River, to conserve the 
entire stream run-off, will afford sufficient additional 
water to reclaim 30,000 acres in Lemons and Warm 
Springs valleys, north and east of Reno, the soils of 
which are extremely fertile. Similar works on the 
headwaters of the Carson River will enable the recla- 
mation of 40,000 or more acres in Carson, Eagle and 
Dayton valleys, in extreme western Nevada. 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



Complete storage of the Hood waters of the Walker 
River will perfect water rights for the 75,000 acres of 
land now irrigated in Smith and Mason valleys and 
furnish water to reclaim, perhaps, 50,000 acres addi- 
tional. Farmers in these two valleys, in 1919, organ- 
ized as an Irrigation District, proposing to bond their 
lands in the sum of $800,000 to complete storage works 
to insure their lands against recurring water shortage in 
August and September, also to enable some additional 
lands to be reclaimed. 

The Humboldt River offers the most complex water 
conservation problem in the State. About 175,000 
acres are now irrigated from the stream, but subject 
to recurring periods of water shortage during the latter 
part of the irrigation season, due to the erratic nature 
of the run-ofT. The river is 350 miles in length from 
the source of its longest tributary to its terminus, but 
in its tortuous course traverses nearly 1,000 miles. 
A large part of its waters are lost by evaporation in 
overflowed swamp lands through which its sluggish 
current travels. Reclamation on this stream, in addi- 
tion to a number of storage reservoirs on its main 



tributaries, involves the rectification of the river 
channel in the Battle Mountain basin, where the 
principal evaporation losses occur. It will also necessi- 
tate more or less general drainage works throughout 
its course to decrease evaporation losses as well to 
reclaim large areas of river-bottom lands. These soils, 
when drained, are highly productive, as witnessed by 
wheat yields of 50 to 70 bushels per acre, at Lovelock, 
and corresponding yields of alfalfa. While possibly 
50,000 to 75,000 additional acres might be reclaimed 
by such storage and drainage works, the perfection of 
water rights and the soil improvement by drainage of 
the existing impro\'ed lands is a matter, alone, of great 
economic importance. 

Storage systems on many other lesser streams will, 
in due time, come about, but, where requiring State 
and Federal aid, probably not until after the comple- 
tion of works on the larger streams mentioned. 

ARTESIAN WELLS AND PUMPING PLANTS 

Artesian water is found in a number of valleys at 
depths varying from 150 to 1,000 feet, with sufficient 




Small Farms, in Truck Crops, Alfalfa and Grain, with Dairying, Live Stock and Poultry, 

Are Needed in Nevada 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



pressure to cause surface flows or bring tlie water 
within pumping lift. The principal artesian section is 
the Las Vegas Valley. Here about one hundred wells 
have been drilled, some few of remarkable discharge. 
The hazard and cost of well-drilling leaves it out of 
the field of opportunity for the settler of small means, 
the cost running from $3.00 to $5.00 per foot, depend- 
ing on the size of casing, depth of well and character 
of material encountered. The expenditure of two or 
three thousand dollars may result in total loss. Several 
thousand acres of farm lands are irrigated with electric- 
driven pumping plants, substantially all at shallow 
lifts from lakes or steams. Gas engines are used where 
electricity is not available. Pumping plants for irri- 
gation should not be installed without competent 
engineering advice. The Nevada Agricultural College 
will supply an irrigation engineer for free consultation. 

RECLAMATION BY DRAINAGE 

Nevada has o\cr 400, 000 acres of swamp and suli- 
irrigated meadow, pasture and grazing lands, com- 
prising generally the most fertile soils in the State, 
the average production of which, at present, is not 



over one ton of grass hay per acre, aside from pasture. 
Drainage will transform these lands into fields of high- 
producing alfalfa and grain. 

Moreover the effect of their drainage will be the 
conservation of many hundred thousand acre feet of 
water that is now lost by excess evaporation. When 
it is stated that evaporation from water surfaces or 
from constantly moist soils in the dry atmosphere is 
in excess of four feet per annum, while from well- 
drained lands, as ordinarily irrigated, evaporation is 
normally not over one foot, some idea may be gathered 
of the immense conser\'ation of water which drainage 
will effect. 

Beginning of Drainage in Nevada — It is only 
\ery recently that attention has l)een gi\en to the 
economic importance of drainage. Community drain- 
age works have I)een constructed at Loxelock with 
marked success. The organization of a drainage dis- 
trict, to reclaim 1.5,000 acres of bottom lands in the 
Truckee Valley, was under way, in 1919, the cost 
approximating $400,000 for complete farm drainage. 
In Mason and Smith \'alleys drainage is being con- 




Cipoletti Weir, by Which the Quantity of Flowing Water Is Measured 

25 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE. OLD 
IN MINING- RICH IN BOTH 



sidered. Moapa Valley is in part drained, and exten- 
sive drainage works have been constructed in the New- 
lands Project. There are instances of small-farm drain- 
age S3'Stems installed by farmers, but not many. 

Much of the land requiring drainage is in large 
holdings. One of the anticipated results of draining 



these larger areas will be their probable subdivision 
and sale. For drainage will necessitate a radical 
change in the character of crops and cultural methods, 
involving intensive cultivation, an innovation more 
likely to cause pioneer ranchers to dispose of their 
holdings than to undertake. 



The Newlands Project 



THE Newlands Reclamation Project, located in 
Churchill County, embraces 192,000 acres of 
irrigable land. Of this area approximately 
43,000 acres were under actual irrigation in 1918. 
Some $6,000,000 has been expended in the construc- 
tion of canals and storage reservoirs, making it 
one of the largest irrigation districts in the West. 
The general elevation of the project lands is about 
4,000 feet above sea level, or 200 feet lower than Salt 
Lake and about 1,200 feet lower than Denver. The 
temperature ranges from minus 5 degrees F. to 105 
degrees F. 



The project has a dependable water supply, derived 
from the combined flows of the Truckee and Carson 
rivers, which have their sources in the high Sierras. 
The Truckee water is conserved in Lake Tahoe, the 
largest lake at so high an elevation, 6,225 feet above 
sea level, on the North American continent. Carson 
River water and part of that of the Truckee are 
stored in Lahontan reser\oir, completed at a cost of 
$1,500,000, with a capacity of 290,000 acre-feet. 
Canals and laterals distribute it to the farms. The 
irrigation works are of a permanent character, concrete 
being used almost exclusively for all main structures. 




Field of Celery, Newlands Project, Which Finds a Ready and Fancy Market 

26 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



Soils of the Project — The soils are of man}' kinds, 
as would be expected in a large tract of land formed 
of river and lake deposits. There are light drifting 
sands, loams, clay and black peat soils, all occurring 
in large quantities. The settler may choose between 
these, selecting the soil best fitted to the kind of 
agriculture favored. Soil fertility seems to increase 
with cultivation. There are older farms in the valley 
which have been cropped for o\'er fifty years without 
showing diminution in yield. Alkali, a natural in- 
gredient of all soils of desert regions, is present to 
some extent. The best lands, those which are nearly- 
free from alkali, have been set apart for settlement 
purposes. Extensive drainage ditches ha\e been dug, 
so that nearly all farms liable to alkali seepage are 
thus protected. 

Crops on Newlands Project — A choice of nearly 
the entire range of temperate zone crops is oftered 
the farmer. The great staple is alfalfa, about which 
centers the cattle, sheep and hog-feeding industries, 
and which is the basis for a most promising recent 
growth of the dairying and creamery business. Ap- 



proximately 80,000 tons of alfalfa were grown on the 
project in 1918. NcAt in importance, after alfalfa, 
are wheat, barley, potatoes and garden truck. Potato 
culture offers great opportunities, since the quality 
is particularly fine and an extensive export market is 
available. Celery and cantaloupes have been fully 
demonstrated as successful crops. Sweet potatoes 
and a wide \-ariety of garden truck and small fruits 
are grown. 

The yield of all crops under the project is remark- 
ably high under good methods of cultivation. Alfalfa 
produces from three to as high as ten tons per acre, 
according to the care and skill with which it is seeded, 
cultivated and harvested. Six tons per acre is readily 
attainable. Wheat and barley yield from thirty to 
fifty bushels per acre. Potatoes are dependable and a 
highly profitable crop. From fifteen to thirty tons per 
acre of onions are grown on the best lands. Crops 
grown on the project, in 1918, had a market value of 
$1,600,000. 

Markets, Live Stock and Poultry — The principal 
markets are found in range Ii\e-stock feeding and 




ill of Onions on an Inttn 



'^AM't..'. 



^mall Fatm, Trucktt \'alley 



NEV. 



Jlk SL^ JL IL 



YOUNG IN AGRICULT URE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH I N BOTH 



the near-by mining camps. Each winter many thou- 
sand sheep and cattle are brought into the valley for 
fattening before shipment to the stock yards. Exports 
of baled alfalfa hay, potatoes, grain and live stock 
find their way into the California, Utah and, some- 
times, Eastern markets. There is a modern and fully 
equipped creamery. Farmers are increasing their 
dairy stock, finding dairying highly profitable. This 
project offers exceptional opportunities for raising 
blooded cattle, sheep and hogs. Numerous small bands 
of sheep are to be found among the settlers and the 
raising of cattle is increasing rapidly. The Reclama- 
tion Service provides a 15,000-acre community pasture 
on the shore lands around Carson Lake, where farmers 
may graze their surplus stock in summer. Poultry 
raising, especially turkeys, is a growing industry, 
about 150,000 pounds of turke\s being marketed dur- 
ing the holiday season. 

Transportation — The Southern Pacific Railroad 
skirts the northern border of the project. At Hazen 
two branches leave the main line, one going sixteen 
miles southeasterly to Fallon and the other running 
south to the great mining districts of southern Nevada. 
The main line of the Lincoln Highway passes through 
the project. 

Fallon, situated about the center of the project, 
has a population of 2,000 and is an important distrib- 
uting point. It supports two weekly newspapers, 
two- banks, a creamery, two alfalfa meal mills, a 
flour mill, sugar beet factory, churches and places 
of amusement, in addition to excellent public schools 
The county owns and operates a town and rural 
telephone system. From the Government hydro- 
electric power plant at the Lahontan dam, power for 
light" ig and industrial purposes is available. 



Opportunities for Homeseekers — In no other 
place in the West is there available land holding 
more promise and under more favorable terms of 
purchase to the settler. The net price is $60 per acre, 
payable in installments covering twenty years, with- 
out interest. The ruling farm unit is the eighty-acre 
subdivision, containing usually not less than sixty 
acres of irrigable land. When once brought under 
cultivation it not only supports a family but brings 
in a very substantial income. 

Ordinarily the new settler should have from $2,500 
to $5,000 in resources to enable him to make a satis- 
factory start and insure success. This amount is 
deemed necessary in order that a man with a family 
may pass through the period of land clearing, leveling 
and seeding, provide a dwelling place, farm imple- 
ments, work stock, and a year's supply of food and 
clothing, until the land can be made to produce a 
livelihood. Even with this essential capital it must 
never be overlooked that hard work, with some pri- 
vations and much perseverance must be given to the 
enterprise in order to win. But with success there 
conies a highly productive farm, and an independency 
to the owner and his family. The cost of leveling 
and preparing for seeding varies greatly in different 
sections. In some instances it is only that of remov- 
ing the brush and checking the land for irrigation. 
In other ca.ses the expense may run as high as $75 or 
even more per acre. There are expert land levelers 
on the project who are equipped to do all kinds of 
land leveling by contract, if desired, so that this 
operation may be accomplished quickly if funds are 
available. Further information regarding the project 
may be secured by writing the Project Manager, 
LI. S. Reclamation Service, Fallon, Nev. 



Dry Farming in Nevada 



WHAT is known as "dry-land farming" or "dry- 
farming" originated in the semi-arid states 
when the only lands left for homestead entry 
were those with. scant precipitation. It was finally 
discovered that by practicing certain methods of 
tillage, soil evaporation could be largely controlled, 
hence a limited quantity of moisture so conserved in 
the root zone of the soil would produce drought- 
resistant crops. Four factors must be reckoned with 
in dry-farming, namely: precipitation, soil, tillage 
and crops. 

The Factor of Precipitation — In respect to pre- 
cipitation, not only the quantity of mean annual 
rainfall must be considered but the season in which 
it chiefly falls. East of the Rocky Mountains sixty 
per cent of the annual rainfall occurs in April, May, 
June and July — or for the most part during the crop- 
growing season. West of the Rocky Mountains si.xty 
per cent falls during the winter months, with no 
certainty of rainfall during the crop-growing season, 
although some helpful rain 7iiay fall. Dry-farming 
in Nevada, therefore, is conditioned on storing the 



winter precipitation in the soil, with dependency on 
rain during the growing season substantially omitted 
from calculation. Ne\ada is the most arid of the 
states. Moreover, the greater part of the precipita- 
tion is intercepted b>- the high mountains, thus reduc- 
ing valley rainfall. 

In certain of the higher valleys of northeastern and 
eastern Nevada, and a few scattered valleys elsewhere, 
the mean annual precipitation is from ten to fifteen 
inches. In such \alleys only — representing, however, 
between two and three million acres in the aggregate 
— is there any hope of dry-farm reclamation. That 
hope is not so much founded on present successes as 
upon the anticipated results of the application of 
more correct methods of tillage and crop selection 
than has attended dry-farming in the past. 

The Soil Factor — The second factor is tlie soil, 
both in respect to its fertility and its physical charac- 
teristics to retain moisture. Since precipitation must 
be stored in the first eighteen inches or so of the 
surface, the soil must be of such physical consistency 
as to retain it. If loose and porous it will soon lose 







Harvebtmg Oats on the NeuIancK Project ^^hedt lb tiic More Profitabli. Gram 

29 



^ 



D 



i ^ j^ 



IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



its moisture bj' evaporation and percolation. If it 
contains an excess of clay it will require an unprofitable 
amount of tillage to prevent surface baking and main- 
tain the necessary "soil mulch," without which evapo- 
ration is rapid. A deep loam soil, containing just 
sufficient clay to reasonably compact it, without 
causing surface baking, is the type required. None 
other will suffice. And the soil must be rich in avail- 
able plant food. The dry-farmed crop must be 
"forced" in the spring, while the limited moisture is 
available, and such forcing necessitates available 
plant food in abundance to stimulate rapid growth. 

The Factor of Tillage — The third factor is tillage. 
Given sufficient precipitation and a rich soil that is 
retentive of moisture, without proper tillage dry- 
farm crops cannot be successfully grown. The land 
must be tilled in accordance with certain established 
rules, departure from which almost invariably spells 
disaster. One of the principal causes of failure of 
dry-farmers is their disinclination to follow established 
methods. Conserving in a shallow soil blanket for 
periods ranging from five to eighteen months, eight 



to ten inches of water, is not a hit or miss proposition, 
but one that is governed by the most exacting of 
technical rules. Nevertheless, many dry-farmers, with 
their all at stake in the success of the venture, pursue 
their own ways in utter disregard of established 
methods. It thus happens that the failure of dry- 
farmers in a gi^"en valley, where soil and precipita- 
tion conditions seem adequate, may mean nothing in 
respect to determining the question of its actual 
susceptibility to dry-farming. 

The Factor of Crops — The fourth factor is that 
of drought-resistant crops. Certain varieties of winter 
wheat, rye and other grains are commonly grown. 
In the possible dry-farming sections of Nevada, it is 
the writer's opinion that drought-resistant forage 
crops and the production of live stock will be the 
basis of any successful enterprise, with winter wheat 
as a side venture. Such forage crops will probably 
be sweet clover and fall sown rye for hay and pasture, 
and Russian sunflower for silage. Demonstrations of 
these crops in the Rietropolis section, Elko County, 
while to date not conclusive, due to imperfection of 




Dairying Is a Growing Industry, with Pure-Bred Cattle Fast Supplanting Scrub Stock 

30 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



methods hitherto practiced by the settlers, are yet 
encouraging that proper methods may secure profit- 
able results. 

The Enlarged Homestead Act — Under the en- 
larged Homestead Act, commonly called the Dry-Farm 
Act, a settler may enter upon 320 acres of the public 
domain. He is required to live upon it at least seven 
months of each year for three consecutive years before 
he may prove up. He is further required to reclaim 
a portion of the land each year and to make certain 
improvements. While the land is free, the time, labor 
and money required to bring it to a self-sustaining 
basis ordinarily will be far more than the average 
settler anticipates. There are to be considered the 
hazard of his own mistakes and the chance of the 
"dry" year or a succession of dry years which may 
put him out of business. 

Where the rainfall is but Icn to fifteen inches, 
two years' precipitation must be conserved in the 
soil to produce a successful grain crop. This means 
that half the land must lie fallow each year. More- 
over, to retain the first year's moisture it must be 
harrowed from time to time during such off year to 
maintain the "soil mulch" which alone prevents evapo- 



ration. Since weeds exhaust the moisture, they, too, 
must be kept down. Thus, on a 320-acre entry devoted 
to grain, with all of it cleared and plowed, only IfiO 
acres may be harvested each season. The attempt to 
grow grain on one season's moisture, unless lollowing 
a winter of excessive precipitation, almost invariably 
ends in disaster. 

Dry-Farm Forage Crops and Live Stock — If 
forage crops, such as sweet clover, rye and Russian 
sunflower can be successfully grown in part, or wholly, 
on the annual basis, with sufficient production to 
supply subsistence for 500 ewes and their lambs to 
marketing age (a matter of about one ton of cured 
forage, or its equi\alent in pasturage, per acre) the 
320-acre dry-farm unit can undoubtedly be made a 
success. Unfortunately' this involves considerable 
capital in the way of clearing land, tractor plowing, 
fencing, farm buildings, a well and pumping plant for 
domestic and stock water, and a fairly large ultimate 
investment in live stock. The average settler of 
small means cannot meet these conditions without 
assistance. On the other hand insufficient data is 
yet available as to the degree of success attending such 
ventures, when properly conducted, to determine to what 




There Ate Unsurpassed Upportunilies in Nevada for Poultry Raising 

31 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



extent, if any, such aid might Ije furnished with security 
by private capital or by the State or Government. 

Outlook for Dry-Farm Settlement — The whole 
subject matter of dry-farming in Nevada may be 
summarized in this statement: That while there are 
substantial grounds for the belief that large areas of 
the higher valleys in time may be successfully reclaimed 
by dry-farming methods, the present status of knowl- 
edge on this subject is so inconclusive, both in respect 
to crops and methods, as to dissuade inexperienced 
settlers from the attempt. The experienced dry- 
farmer, of course, with the data presented, is presumed 



lo be competent to judge for himself, and to such 
it is believed that Nevada has valleys well worth 
investigating. 

Prospective settleis are warned against the repre- 
sentations of professional locators who for a fee will 
disclose some open public land entry, the opportunity 
for the reclamation of which is presented in glowing 
colors. The settler pays his dollar per acre or more 
for this information, spends his labor and little 
remaining capital on the tract and finally awakens 
to the fact that his only harvest is an unhappy 
experience. 



Nevada's Land Settlement Policy 



THE Nevada Legislature, in 1919, appropri- 
ated $1,000,000 to be expended in co-opera- 
tion with the Federal Government for the 
reclamation, improvement, equipment and settle- 
ment of lands within the State. This act, how- 
ever, will not become effective until the passage by 
Congress of the Mondell Bill, or other measure on 
the lines proposed by Secretary Lane for soldiers' 
settlement. Under these two measures, if the latter 
is enacted, several millions of dollars will be available 
for such purposes in the State, with probable addi- 



tional appropriations from time to time until all the 
flood waters of the streams are conserved and all 
lands subject to reclamation by means of irrigation 
systems or drainage works are subdivided and disposed 
of to settlers. 

Farm Units to Be Partly Improved — Tlie plan 
of farm settlement proposed, contemplates small farm 
units of a size sufiiicient to guarantee an independent 
income to a farm family, when properly cultivated 
and managed, the probable areas varying from 40 
to IGO acres, depending on soil conditions and crop 




Field of Potatucb, Barrett Farm, Mason Valley, Yielding 600 Bushels per Acre 

32 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



adaptability. The land will be leveled and partly 
or wholly prepared for seeding. Some provision will 
also be made lor the farmhouse, fences, live stock, 
implements and other necessary equipment to start 
the settler on the road to success. The general scheme 
is similar to that for many years in force in Australia 
and New Zealand, subsequently adopted by Canada, 
and recently e.xperimentally undertaken by California 
in the Durham Project, at Chico. 

Settlers applying for one of these farm units must 
satisfy a Settlement Board that he possesses sufficient 
farm experience, has the ability and industry neces- 
sary to succeed and the character to make a desirable 
citizen. Settlers will therefore be selected — a depar- 
ture from the Federal Reclamation procedure under 
which settlers are determined by lottery or priority 
of application, regardless of capacity to farm an entry. 

Terms on Which Sold — The settler must possess 
some minimum capital. He must pay down some 
part of the cost of the unit — sufficient to insure the 
State and Government that his primary interest will 
be vested in the success of the enterprise — and must 
have some capital above this payment to carry the 
undertaking through to the time when crop returns 
will meet expenses. The balance due will be payable 



un an amortization basis at a low rate ol interest, 
covering perhaps thirty to forty years, with the privi- 
lege of liquidating the debt at any time sooner. 

Fifteen Thousand Farm Units — Under the plan 
not only is it contenii)latod to reclaim lands of the 
public domain but to acquire, by purchase or con- 
demnation proceedings, any large private holdings 
suitable for colonization and to similarly improve, 
subdivide and dispose of them to settlers. With the 
complete conservation of the waters of the streams 
in Nevada, the maximum possibility would be about 
13,000 farm units, averaging 100 acres of irrigated 
lands each. This would represent 1,500,000 acres as 
compared with 900,000 acres of improved land now, 
and an increase over the present number of farm 
units of about 11,000. 

There are, of course, possibilities for settlement 
aside from the foregoing on lands susceptible of recla- 
mation from underground waters, which in time will 
essentially come within the field of economic develop- 
ment. Also the definite solution of the problem of 
dry-farming in favorable valleys will greatly increase 
the field of settlement and may in time call for some 
application of the settlement laws in connection there- 
with. 



General Notes on Nevada 



Social Life in Nevada — While typically western, 
social life in Ne\ada is not otherwise diiTerent from 
that found elsewhere. The substantial majority of 
the people are wholesome, temperate, hospitable, 
generous and self-reliant — a people in the main accus- 
tomed to the comforts and many of the luxuries of life, 
who travel much and are well informed. Their home 
and social life is refined and the conventions of good 
breeding observed as habitually as anywhere else. 
The proportion of men and women of college training 
is as large as in any other state in the Union. 

No Longer the Wild West — By an overwhelming 
majority, in 1918, the people voted the State "bone 
dry," with one of the most drastic of prohibition laws, 
which has since been rigidly enforced. The old gam- 
bling days are gone. The one picturesque character 



left is the range "cowboy," striking yet in his attire, 
but sans the arsenal he once sported and deterred 
by the arm of the law and the frowns of a new civiliza- 
tion from his former predilection of shooting up the 
town. 

Political System — The State and counties are 
governed by a thoroughly organized political system, 
preserving law, order and good government. Election 
laws are stringently enforced, protecting the purity 
of the ballot. The police system is effective and the 
State's judiciary is of a high order of ability and probity 
The State has no indebtedness other than to its public 
school system. The assessed valuation of property, 
in 1919, was a little over .$200,000,000. Taxes are 
not generally higher than in some other western states 
and are not burdensome. 



NEVADA 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING RICH IN BOTH 



Cities and Towns — Reno is the commercial and 
banking center for two-thirds of the State and the 
portion of Cahfornia lying east of the Sierras; popu- 
lation about 17,000, aside from 3,000 people in Sparks, 
a suburb two miles distant, with which the street 
railway system connects. It is famous for the beauty 
of its setting on the Truckee River, with the pictur- 
esque Sierra Nevada Mountains as an immediate 
background, as also for the charm of its climate and 
the attractiveness of its social life. Three railroad 
systems connect it with all parts of the country. 
Here is located the University of Nevada, with its 
fine buildings and lovely campus. Throughout Ne- 
vada are many progressive agricultural towns and 
villages, with banks, stores, one or more newspapers, 
electric lighting systems, theatres, churches, modern 
public schools, etc., and attractive homes. The mining 
towns are less stable, due to the fact that, under 
modern methods, large ore bodies are worked out in 
a comparatively few years. Thus mining towns spring 
suddenly into life, speedily acquire populations of 
from a few hundred to ten thousand people, or more, 
subsequently,astheoresareexhausted, to become partly 
or wholly depopulated. As a rule a new mining dis- 
covery attracts the exodus from the decadent camp, 
so that while thus migratory, the mining population 
transfers itself rather than leaves the State. 

' Public School System — The State school fund 
has ."SB, 500, 000 invested in bonds and land contracts, 
the interest on which, and about one-fifth of the 
public revenues, are devoted to educational purposes. 
Each school district is separately taxed for the erec- 
tion and maintenance of its public school buildings. 
There are rural schools wherever five pupils reside 
within a district. Teachers, unless experienced, must 
be graduates of a recognized college or normal school 
before eligible for appointment. Each county has one 
or more high schools. The standards are as high as 
in any other state. The people of the State are justly 
proud of the efficiency of their educational system, 
rural schools, high schools and University, and have ever 
been liberal and generous in taxing themselves for educa- 
tional improvement. In the more important towns 
one will find public school buildings costing from 
$50,000 to as high as $250,000 for single structures, 



and equipped with modern instructional apparatus and 
appliances of all kinds. 

University of Nevada — The University of Nevada, 
located at Reno, has a faculty of nearly si.xty profes 
sors, associate professors and instructors. Average 
student attendance 500 to 600, about one-fourth of 
which are from other states. Connected with the 
University are the four Colleges — Arts and Science, 
Engineering, Agriculture and Education — also the 
Nevada Experiment Station and Public Service de- 
partments, comprising the Agricultural E.xtension 
Division, Veterinary Control Service, Pure Food and 
Drug Control and State Hygienic Laboratory. The 
University buildings are commodious and are grouped 
upon a very beautiful 60-acre campus. There is a 
210-acre demonstration farm well stocked with reg- 
istered live stock. 

Co-operative Agricultural Extension Work — ■ 
The U. S. Department of Agriculture, under the 
Smith-Lever Act of Congress, and the State of Nevada 
co-operate in maintaining an Agricultural Extension 
Division, with an administrative and field staff of 
specialists, whose headquarters are at the University, 
and agricultural agents, home demonstration agents 
and junior e.xtension workers, located in the counties. 
A state law authorizes the organization of the rural 
population of any county into a County Farm Bureau 
which may pledge county support for such work 
in an amount not exceeding one mill on each dol- 
lar of taxable property therein, whereupon the 
State automatically duplicates the amount. This 
service is proving of increasing value in introducing 
improved agricultural methods, better live stock, new 
c rops, etc; also in rural home and social welfare work. 
It affords, also, a source on which the new settler may 
rely for aid and advice. , 

Veterinary Control Service — The State maintains 
in connection with the University, a Veterinary Con- 
trol Service, with laboratories, specialists and field 
\eterinarians, subject to call, for the diagnosis, treat- 
ment and control of outbreaks of communicable 
animal or poultry diseases, without charge other than 
for vaccines and serums used. It has proved so 
efficient that losses from such diseases have been 
reduced to a minimum, eKcept in instances where 



34 



UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION 



notification by the owners had been delayed until 
infection had become established. The service is of 
special value to farmers or stockmen, amounting to 
a protective insurance, to a large degree, against loss 
from live stock and poultry contagions. 

Transportation — The State is traversed by three 
interstate railroad systems, the Southern Pacific, 
Western Pacific and Los Angeles & Salt Lake rail- 
roads. Branch lines and independent feeder lines 
lead from these to substantially all the principal 
agricultural and mining districts. 

Roads and Highways — Until 1917 no serious 
attention was given by the State to the problem of 
good roads, the result being stretches of good natural 
highways, some not as good and some that would 
compare favorably with the worst anywhere. Legis- 
lation in 1917 and 1919 provided state and county 
appropriations for public highways aggregating •S3,.540,- 
000 to offset an equal amount of federal moneys, a 
total of $7,080,000 now available for expenditure 
within the State. The war prevented active road 
work until 1919. At present the construction of con- 



crete and macadam highways is well under way. 
Within a reasonable time there will be a well-con- 
structed general road .system reaching all parts of the 
State, two of the interstate arteries of which will be 
the Lincoln Highway and the Arrowhead Trail. 

The Poultry Industry— Until the past few years 
poultry was a neglected industry. Most of the poul- 
try and eggs consumed came from outside states. 
Recently it has been found that no section of the 
West offers better opportunities for successful poultry 
raising than the Truckee Valley, the Newlands Recla- 
mation Project, and Mason Valley. A prosperous 
and rapidly growing poultry industry is developing 
in these localities. The climate is almost ideal for 
poultry husbandry— little humidity, cool nights and 
mild winters. Green feeds, alfalfa, kale, etc., thrive 
under irrigation and are available more than half the 
year. Grain may be obtained direct from the local 
farmers. Tankage, bloodmeal and ground bone are 
manufactured at Reno. There is a ready local market 
for double the quantity of eggs and poultry now 
produced. 



VACATION OUTINGS 

IN THE 

NATIONAL PARKS 



"The Nation's Playgrounds" 

YOUR National Parks are a vast region of peaks, canyons, glaciers, geysers, big trees, volcan<ies, 
prehistoric ruins and other natural scenic wonders. 

Visit them this summer — for fishing, mountain climbing and "roughing it." 

Ask for descriptive illustrated booklet of the National Park or National Monument you are spe- 
cially interested in — Here is the list: Crater Lake, Ore.; Glacier, Mont.; Grand Canyon, Ariz. ; 
Hawaii; Hot Springs, Ark.; Mesa Verde, Colo.; Mt. Rainier, Wash.; Pertrified Forest, Ariz.; Rocky 
Mountain, Colo.; Sequoia, Cal.; Yellowstone, Wyo.; Yosemite, Cal., and Zion, Utah. 

Address 

Travel Bureau, U. S. Railroad Administration 

646 Transportation BIdg., Chicago, IH., or 

143 Liberty St., New York City, or 

602 Healey Bldg., Atlanta, Ga. 



YOUNG IN AGRICULTURE, OLD 
IN MINING — RICH IN BOTH 



\ 



^■*'-.* - rji'^j^ ^":^<■ -' 





Farmers Fiiul Rcad\ Mail-cl lui 1 orai^u Crops in the Feeding of Range Live Stock 

ISSUED BY 

United States Railroad Administration 
AGRICULTURAL SECTION 

J. L. EDWARDS, Manager 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

FOR THE USE OF ALL RAILROADS 
IN THE STATE OF NEVADA 

For Further Information, address 



POOLE BROS. CHICAGO 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

iii'ii>!ii'ii:iniiiiiiillirill'l 



003 



006 1 11 1 • 



